Just days after Turkey extended its support to Pakistan at the UN on Kashmir issue, India’s grand old party, Congress, has opened its overseas office in Turkey as per a media report. According to a report by Anadolu Agency, a news agency headquartered in Turkey, Congress’ Indian Overseas Congress (IOC) has issued a press statement about opening an office in Istanbul. One Muhammad Yusuf Khan will be heading this office in Turkey.
Reportedly, the statement further read that Khan will work with others to lead various initiatives of Congress, especially ‘polish bilateral relations between India and Turkey’ with emphasis on politics, culture, trade, tourism, education and health.
Indian Overseas Congress is a group of Congress supporters and evangelists who promote Indian National Congress overseas. Rahul Gandhi confidante Sam Pitroda is the chairman of IOC.
This move of Congress comes days after Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had mirrored Pakistan’s lines on the Kashmir issue, saying that the issue needs to be resolved through “dialogue on the basis of justice, equity and not through collision”, in an attempt to create an illusion that India has been in the wrong . Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, the Turkish President further added that the stability and prosperity of South Asia with India’s western neighbour is inseparable from the Kashmir issue.
Read: India issues travel advisory for Indians travelling to Turkey
Later, Erdogan defended his statements on Kashmir saying that he would continue to raise the Kashmir issue. After Erdogan’s hostile comments on Jammu and Kashmir, PM Modi had retorted back in the same coin by meeting the heads of Ankara’s rivals- Greece, Cyprus and Armenia, who have a bone to pick with Turkey.